Bishop Diego hands Nordhoff first loss, 14-7

Rangers miss shot at Tri-Valley title

SANTA BARBARA — With the Tri-Valley League title and a possible invitation to a state bowl game on the line, Bishop Diego High sophomore linbacker Abel Gonzalez tackled Nordhoff receiver Brad Sloan in the open field at the 10-yard line with just two seconds to play to preserve a 14-7 victory at Santa Barbara City College on Saturday.

The Rangers made seven first downs to Bishop Diego's one and outgained the Cardinals 162-50 in the first half but went to the locker room tied at 7-7. Nordhoff committed seven penalties and threw two interceptions — one in the red zone and the second on its own 2, setting up Bishop's first score, a 2-yard pass from Anthony Carter to Nolan Tooley.

Nordhoff (8-1, 2-1) put its only points of the game on the board on the first play of the second half on a 50-yard run by Matt Woodcock (14 carries, 91 yards), who filled in admirably for running back Tayler Livingston, sidelined by a knee injury.

Bishop Diego's offense righted itself in the second half, driving deep into Nordhoff territory on its first four possessions. However, the game remained in doubt until the final gun.

The Cardinals (9-0, 3-0) came up empty on their first drive after break when sophomore linebacker Shane Hersh (8 tackles) tripped up Carter on a third-and-4 and Brandon Wadsworth blocked a 37-yard field-goal try.

Nordhoff then went three-and-out though, and Bishop's offense was back at work. Six consecutive runs for three first downs setup a play-action pass from Carter to BJ Murillo for a 26-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead.

Nordhoff responded with a drive of its own behind five Woodcock carries, but with fourth-and-2 at the Bishop 27, quarterback Tanner Workman (14 of 26) overthrew his wide receiver.Nordhoff's Cody McMillan and Hersh made key tackles to stop the ensuing drive, but Bishop held the ball for nearly nine minutes.

Nordhoff had five minutes left but could not respond, losing 20 yards in three plays before managing a punt of ajust 19 yards.

With a chance to put the game away, Bishop fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Nordhof's Johnny Esquivel recovered. But the Rangers could not capitalize — Murrillo intercepting Workman for the third time in the end zone with 1:58 to play.

Three plays later, Bishop Diego gave Nordhoff a third chance to tie the game, when Austin Wolcottrecovered a fumble at the Bishop 6.

With no timeouts left and 38 seconds to play, Nordhoff's Workman threw four times, but could not get the Rangers in the end zone.

"Woodcock showed a lot of heart stepping up with a hurt ankle, but it was tough not having Tayler," said Nordhoff head coach Tony Henney. "But give (Bishop Diego) credit because they are a great football team, and their coaches just did a better job getting their players ready to play than we did."

"I knew this was going to be a battle between two great defensive teams, and our defense is what it came down to at the end," said Bishop Diego head coach Tom Crawford, whose team became the first in school history to start a season 9-0. "That was just a real physical battle between two good teams."